Chapter Text
The birds chirp in the early morning, making their presence known to the world. Crows cawk back to each other, as if they were having an argument of some kind. The sun rose a couple of hours ago, announcing a new day. Today is Friday, so the students at U.A. must be excited to get this day over with and start relaxing on their weekend.
Everyone except Kirishima.
After his conversation with the masked stranger last night, he wasn't able to return to sleep, instead mulling over the whole conversation in his head until dawn. The whole experience was weird for him, he always had an urge to run away, knew that that person was dangerous, but he just couldn't leave until he knew what the "information" they spoke of was. Now that he knows, he's upset with himself at not knowing sooner. Who could blame him?
He found out that his mother was being held hostage by villains from a complete stranger.
Well, maybe not such a stranger, apparently to them.
That's another thing, just who is the masked stranger? They said that they knew him somehow, but Kirishima can't remember them! It's so frustrating, and Kirishima can't help but feel paranoid. What if whoever they are were watching him right now? How could they infiltrate U.A.? Did they hack into the defense system and climb up to his balcony? How did they know which dorm was his?
Kirishima has too many unanswered questions and he just might have a panic attack if he keeps thinking about it.
Okay, calm down, Eijirou. Think back to what they said. Gather what knowledge you do have right now and see what you can do with it. He takes deep breaths. He concentrates hard as he replays last night's events in his head.
"Your mother is being held hostage by a villain gang. And I know where she is." The masked stranger says. Their garnet eyes are cold and stony, Kirishima gulps.
Say what now? His mom is being held hostage? Since when? By who? Why? Kirishima takes a deep breath and steps backwards. "No, that can't be. My mother left three years ago without leaving a trace. Even I couldn't find her, there's no way!" Kirishima shouts. The masked stranger shushes him immediately. "Shut up, idiot! You're going to wake up Bakugou!" They whisper shout at him.
How do they know Bakugou lives in the dorm next to him?
"How'd you know about Bakugou?" Kirishima asks with wide eyes. The masked stranger sighs. "I know about all of your classmates, even your teacher. I did a check so I knew which dorm room you were in." They explain. A check? Did they hack into the student files on Principle Nezu's computer? As if reading his mind again, the masked stranger interjects, "There's no time for me to explain all of that now." They look around, as if trying to make sure no one followed them. What's going on?
They turn back to Kirishima. "You can't tell anyone about any of this, got it?" They ask, their eyes boring into Kirishima's own and he finds it really difficult to maintain eye contact. Kirishima feels like he got into something dangerous, but it's not like he could back out now, right? He doesn't have enough information about all of this, so he has no choice but to obey the masked stranger.
For now.
Kirishima nods. "When will you tell me where my mom is?" He asks, he can tell their conversation's coming to an end soon. The masked stranger looks to be in a hurry. The masked stranger jumps back onto the railing, sparing one last look at Kirishima they say, "Meet me at Kamino, where All Might fought his last fight in three weeks. Come alone. If you win, I'll tell you everything you need to know about your mother." They turn back around. A question quickly pops up in Kirishima's mind.
"Wait, what'll happen if I lose?" His hands are shaking. His blood is pumping in his ears. His chest feels like it's caving in on itself. The masked stranger doesn't turn around.
"Don't lose, and you won't have to find out."
And then they're gone.
Kirishima opens his eyes. Now that he's thought it over, he wonders why they chose Kamino. That place is completely wrecked, no one is allowed to go there until it's rebuilt. Maybe that's why, so no one would interfere with their fight.
Their fight. What's he going to do? He doesn't know anything about his opponent, and from the looks of it, they know everything about him. His fighting style, his quirk, his level. They have the advantage, a very strong advantage. The odds of Kirishima winning are low, it almost seems like suicide to go alone and fight an opponent he doesn't know. Wait, he does this all the time. When he fights villains, he doesn't know their quirks at first, but he learns it while fighting them. He just has to do the same with the masked stranger!
But that's if he could hold out long enough to analyze their quirk.
He needs to win this fight though,
for his mother.
He'll be okay if he just trains hard and grows stronger. Maybe learn a new fighting technique to trip up the masked stranger. Now that he's no longer panicking, Kirishima looks at the clock. Thirty more minutes until class starts. It's okay, it's just another school day. As long as no one asks questions, he won't have to lie to them. Kirishima's a terrible liar.
And everyone knows it.
The three people he has to watch out for are Mr. Aizawa, Bakugou, and Midoriya. Those three are extremely perceptive. Kirishima rises from his bed and goes to change into U.A.'s uniform. The only problem he has with it is the tie, ties are always a pain in the ass. Distantly he wonders how Bakugou can get away with not wearing a tie. And unbuttoning his collar. And sagging.
Maybe the teachers just don't want to deal with an angry Bakugou who could potentially blow up the whole school.
That sounds logical. And besides, Bakugou would look weird all neat and tidy. Kirishima prefers the rougher, "Don't fuck with me or I'll kill you" look on him anyway. When Kirishima's done spiking up his hair into his super manly hairdo, he grabs his bag and leaves his dorm, heading to the elevators. There, he sees Bakugou waiting for the doors to open.
That's unusual, usually Bakugou's the first one in the classroom, given that he has to be the first in everything. He marches over to the grumpy blonde with a wide grin, slinging an arm over his shoulder when he reaches him. Bakugou flinches and turns around quickly with sparking palms.
Uh oh.
When Bakugou realizes who touched him he calmed down a bit, a bit meaning his palms stopped smoking but he looks like he wants to punch Kirishima square in the mouth right now. Kirishima takes a step back. "What the hell are you doing, Shitty Hair?! I'll kill you!" Bakugou threatens. Kirishima closes his eyes with a nervous laugh and rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry man, I guess I forgot that you don't like being touched." He apologizes. Bakugou scowls. "Tch. 'forgot' my ass, you extra." He mutters. Kirishima mocks offence.
"We're back to that now? I thought after Kamino I wasn't just an extra anymore." Kirishima whines. At the mention of the Kamino Incident, Bakugou tenses up.
Yikes. Kirishima forgot that Bakugou doesn't like it whenever someone mentions it. Usually, they get a blast in the face. Kirishima hardens his skin, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the blow. Except, it never comes. The elevator makes a ding sound and Kirishima hears Bakugou scoff and walk away. Kirishima slowly opens his eyes and stands in shock as he watches Bakugou enter the elevator. An instant wave of relief washes over him.
I was saved by the elevator Kirishima thinks to himself.
"You coming or what, Shitty Hair? Don't think I won't leave your ass behind." Bakugou calls from inside the elevator. Kirishima gasps and looks up to see the elevator's doors slowly closing. He quickly rushes over before he can be left behind, though. "Sorry!" He laughs. Bakugou remains silent, as expected, and keeps his gaze on the doors in front of the two. The elevator ride was quick, soon enough the two teenagers are walking together to class 1-A, ready to start the day. When they enter, Kirishima finds Ashido's eyes land on the pair immediately. She quickly rushes over.
"Kirishima! Bakugou? You two never walk together to class! I was starting to get worried that you wouldn't come today, Bakugou!" She's full of energy as always.
Kirishima smiles at her. "Well, I was walking to the elevator and I saw Bakugou waiting so we just walked here together, I guess." He says cheerfully. Ashido's eyes widen, she turns her head to Bakugou. "Aww, did you wait for Kirishima? That's so sweet!" She coos. Bakugou opens his mouth to speak, but he gets cut off by a voice behind Ashido. "Bakugou making friends? That's weird, are you sure you're not Toga, or something?" Sero jokes. He walks over with Kaminari, who looks shocked, his eyes are wide and his hands are raised, ready to make wild gestures as he speaks.
Before he can, though, Mr. Aizawa enters the room and demands silence. "You five, get in your seats, we have work to do." He says tiredly. He always seems tired, seriously, how many hours of sleep does this guy get at night? Voicing Kirishima's thoughts, Kaminari speaks up. "Sure, but are you okay, Mr. Aizawa? You're so tired all the time, it's really concerning." He says, tilting his head to side. But his confusion is quickly replaced by bewilderment as he perks up again.
"Wait, don't tell me you're nocturnal?!" He exclaims. Sero sighs and smacks the human Pikachu on the back of his head.
"I'm fine, Kaminari. To your seats." Aizawa glares, his eyes shining a threatening red. "Yes, sir!" The five speak in unison and quickly scurry to their seats. When Aizawa starts his lecture, Kaminari turns in his seat to look at Kirishima. "Hey man, are you alright?" He asks with concern shining in his golden irises. Kirishima furrows his brows in silent confusion. "You've got some serious eyebags, my dude, they're even on par with Shinsou's and his are bad. You get any sleep last night?" He speaks, his hands coming up to tug under his eyes at the Shinsou comment.
Kirishima feels a slight panic, but his response is immediate. "Of course, man. I was just a little excited for the weekend that I couldn't stop thinking about finally relaxing after this dreadful week of harsh training." The lie seems believable, as it always is, but everyone can tell if Kirishima's lying by the look in his eyes. After all, even with a small lie, Kirishima feels that being untruthful is unmanly and always feels guilty afterwards. Kaminari raises a brow at him, Kirishima knows he didn't buy it. No one ever does. But to his surprise, Kaminari blows it off.
"Yeah, whatever man. Just make sure to get some proper sleep after classes, you really look like you need it." With that, Kaminari gives Kirishima a concerned glance before turning back around in his seat and actually paying attention to what Mr. Aizawa's saying. That's a first. One, Kaminari almost never pays attention to Mr. Aizawa's lectures, and two, anyone who catches on to Kirishima's lies always scolds him for it.
Why did Kaminari act liked he believed it?
Well, no use worrying about that now. Kirishima looks ahead and notices that Mr. Aizawa is talking about combat training. "Listen up, today you'll be paired up with a partner. You and your partner will be simply sparring. This is to see how much you've grown, and to check what you need to improve on." Mr. Aizawa announces. That's perfect! Either it's a mere coincidence or the universe actually feels like helping the red head out this time.
"Your partner is on this sheet of paper," Mr. Aizawa holds up an orange paper with bold writing on it. "Find out who your partner is and change into your gym uniforms. Meet me outside when you're finished." When he finishes, Mr. Aizawa sets the paper down on his desk and exits his yellow sleeping bag, leaving the classroom. Chairs scoot back loudly and the other students rush to the desk, pushing each other and shouting. Kirishima sighs.
This class is way too chaotic, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
He decides that he'll just wait for his partner to come to him, instead of trying to shove his way through the crowd and see for himself who he's up against. And then someone's yelling at him. "Kirishima! Kirishima, guess what!" An ecstatic pinkette rushes towards him. "I'm your partner! Get ready to get your ass kicked!" Ashido announces, a fire in her eyes that shows she really means it. Kirishima's glad that he has her as his partner, she's strong.
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Kirishima exhales a deep breath as he steps in to the sparring ring, Ashido doing the same. At a first glance, Ashido looks unpredictable and is mildly intimidating. But Kirishima, who's known her for almost a year now knows how to dodge her attacks. She's strong, and she's fast, but in terms of raw strength, Kirishima's got her beat. The worrying thing though, is that she's incredibly agile. Plus, while Kirishima's fighting style is close-combat, Ashido specializes in long range attacks. As long as Kirishima can get her close enough, he'll win. Her acid doesn't work on his hardening, but he's got a limit with how long he can keep his hardening up.
He has to end this battle quickly, or else he'll be toast.
When everyone is in their sparring rings with their partners, Mr. Aizawa speaks up. "Alright, listen up. The rules are simple, either make your opponent step out of the ring, or force them to admit defeat. Obviously, no killing. Recovery Girl will heal all injuries, so don't hold back," Mr. Aizawa looks at Midoriya. "Except for you, breaking your bones isn't allowed. If you break anything, Bakugou automatically wins." Mr. Aizawa warns. Kirishima glances over at Bakugou and Midoriya.
"B-but, Mr. Aizawa, I don't have complete control over my quirk yet-" Bakugou's quick to interrupt.
"Hah?! I won't accept a victory like that, pair me up with someone else!" How did Kirishima know that's what Bakugou would say?
Mr. Aizawa activates his quirk. "Oh? Would you rather be expelled?" He taunts. Both Bakugou and Midoriya quiet down at that. With a sigh, Mr. Aizawa turns his attention back to the students. "Now, I think I explained everything," Mr. Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe I'm saying this again." He mutters. Mr. Aizawa lifts his head high.
"You may begin! Go beyond, plus ultra or whatever."
Class 1-A laughs at their favorite homeroom teacher and finally begin. As soon as Kirishima's got his eyes on Ashido, she flings her acid at him. Caught off guard, Kirishima relies on his instinct and hardens up quickly, the acid doing nothing against his hardened skin. Ashido scoffs. "Keep your eyes on me, pretty boy!" And then she's charging at him. Kirishima gets in fighting stance and waits for her to be in range for his first attack.
She's right in front of him now! Kirishima reels his right arm back and swings hard and fast. And as expected, Ashido dodges at the last second, backflipping and landing on her left hand, pushing against the ground to propel herself upwards when Kirishima swings again. She backflips three times to create distance between the two of them. "You almost had me there! A couple months ago, I would've had plenty of time to dodge, you've been working on your mobility and speed, haven't ya?" She says between pants. Kirishima lets out a bashful chuckle.
"I wouldn't say that, you've gotten even more nimble since the last time we've exchanged blows. And yeah, I've been training really hard to be able to throw punches faster." He admits. Ashido flings acid at him again, this time from both of her hands. They have no effect on Kirishima's hardening, of course, but she's toying with him. Forcing to keep using his hardening non stop until the moment he reaches his limit, that's when she'll attack for real. But Kirishima knows this, so he runs as fast as he can at Ashido, knocking her off guard.
Usually, Kirishima lures his opponents to him, but this time he's going for a straight forward attack. While he's running, Ashido is flinging acid non stop, trying to keep the distance she created, but Kirishima endures the slight stinging on his arms. Oh no, his hardening is starting to weaken, he needs to hurry this up. He needs to finish this. He needs to beat Ashido.
For his mother.
Kirishima puts all of his strength into his Red Gauntlet and nails Ashido in the ribs. She gasps at the pain, coughing up blood and hitting the floor with a thud. Kirishima pants as he straightens up, holding a hand out to help Ashido up. But she doesn't take it like she usually does, instead she groans in pain and clutches her abdomen. Usually after their sparring matches, Ashido gets up after a few seconds, laughing away the pain. Kirishima gasps at the pained expression on her face. He's never seen her like this.
Soon, Mr. Aizawa and Recovery Girl rush over. "What happened?" Mr. Aizawa demands. Kirishima looks wide eyed at him. "I-I don't know! I hit her, and then she fell, and coughed up blood, oh gosh she coughed up a ton of blood. Is she okay?" Kirishima rambles out. Mr. Aizawa pushes Kirishima back as Recovery Girl bends down to check out Ashido's wounds.
"Four of her ribs are broken, it looks like a shard of bone pierced her lung, I will do what I can, but we need to take her to the hospital." Recovery Girl states. Kirishima feels the blood in his veins run icy. He did this. He hurt his friend. All because he couldn't control his anger. Kirishima turns and sees that everyone is looking at him now. His eyes widen as he sees anger and hurt in Kaminari and Sero's eyes. He rigidly walks towards them. When did his body feel so heavy?
"Guys..." He breathes out. Kaminari looks to the side.
"You went too far, Kirishima." His voice is cold. Stony. Monotone.
The other students turn their gazes to the ground as Recovery Girl carries Ashido away on a stretcher. As Kirishima scans his friend's faces, he sees no one can meet his eyes. No one except... Ruby eyes meet his own and Kirishima feels like he gets whiplash, something punches the air of out his lungs when he looks in those eyes. They're wide in shock, who knew those eyes would be looking at him like that. There's something else in his eyes, Kirishima can't quite make it out. Those eyes travel to Kirishima's body, giving him a slow once over, then meeting his eyes again.
Confused, Kirishima looks down at his arms, and he immediately feels like vomiting from the bile that climbs up his throat. His arms are in Unbreakable mode, just as the rest of his body is. His clothes are ripped to hell and he has blood on his shirt. Ashido's blood. He can only imagine what he looks like right now. Oh, that's what that look in Bakugou's eyes is.
Disgust.
Fear.
Kirishima suddenly feels lightheaded, his legs wobble, his eyes drift to the back of his head. He's falling isn't he? Since when did falling feel so slow? So heavy?
But it's alright. He beat Ashido. That means he has a chance at beating the masked stranger in three weeks.
Everything's fine, right?
Everything's fine.